Womyn Versus Woman

Lately I have received questions from clients, colleagues, and friends as to why I spell womyn with a “y”. It’s been almost 10 years now that I felt compelled to start spelling womyn with a y.

My sister gave me a daily desk calendar with a focus on the feminine in all shapes and forms with both poetry and artwork. After reading through the calendar I went to the website to learn more about this gift and about the organization that produced it. It was there that I saw for the first time they spelled womyn with a y.

It deeply resonated with me and I pondered why this mattered to me so much. Language is very powerful and carries more meaning than we often stop to think about. From my perspective, “woman” made me feel that I could not and did not stand equal to a man – because man is always part of the word, woman.

This deep awareness I had many years ago made me realize the word “woman” refers to “of man”. I am not bashing men here—I love my husband who I call my Dreamy Guy and have been married for 15 happy and fun-filled years. What I’m talking about is the awareness that the word essentially means a woman’s identity is inherently reliant on a man.

I recalled my past co-dependent relationships with men and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt then – and still do – that if I was going to truly rise up out of submissiveness, I needed to create a new avenue for myself to feel empowered each time I wrote “womyn”.

Instead of defining ourselves in relation to men (which I feel keeps us as a subset under man and not our own separate and much deserved category), why not create a more generic word that provides empowerment? I feel lighter and on equal footing when I write it that way – with a y.

As womyn we have the right to define our relationships with ourselves, society, other womyn and men. I wanted to define myself differently a decade ago when I was moved to spell the word with a y. Certain words carry a more powerful vibration and the different spelling changed the dynamics of that word and how I responded to it.

In changing just one letter in the word “women” my curiosity piqued and gave me the possibility to think outside the box. That is empowerment in its fullest sense. Spelling it in this way creates the opportunity to provide a different perspective about the word to consider. I like that.

When we desire to manifest more in our own lives, words by their very nature carry a low or high vibration and it is vital to choose words that raise your vibration. That day when I chose to spell womyn in this manner, I immediate felt myself rise up. And I continue to rise. Would you like to join me?

Start by signing up for a FREE, 20-minute Rise Up Coaching Session with me!